But I really salute each and everyone who worked to make their latest dream – “The Dubai Metro” a reality. It has the distinction of being the world first automated driverless train system. The work for it had begun way back in 2005 when the first contract was given to the Dubai Rail Link Consortium made up of a group of Japanese companies. 4 lines have been proposed – red, green, purple and blue of which red has partially opened. When completed this would include 70 kilometers of lines as well as 47 stations. The Roads and Transport Authority’s masterplan includes 320 km of metro lines and 270 km of tram lines up to 2020 to cater to the expected 3.3 million population of the city. There are plans for 268km of light rail tracks to act as a feeder system for the Metro. The fate of this entire network – which would reportedly be divided into Yellow, Orange, Magenta and Black lines – is now dependent on an economic recovery and private investment.

Now this sounds like something crazy as usual coming out of Dubai. But even though it may be costly, I firmly believe that Dubai has taken a giant step towards reducing the number of cars on their roads and thus helping reduce pollution. People will surely have issues as was already seen from the fact that some didnt like the idea of giving up the comfort of their own cars, some had issues regarding parking at the Mall of the Emirates due to heavy charges while others just had a problem with trying something like this.

But the fact that 40,000 cars were off the roads on a day or two after the Metro shows that its on the right track. It has given people an altogether new way to see Dubai. The first few days would surely be full as was seen from certain minor glitches due to extreme rush. The thrill has spilled over to cyberspace with people discussing about it on Twitter, Orkut, Facebook, blogs everywhere.

The commencement of the Metro on the date fixed 3 years ago, the impeccable interiors and stations, the proper maintainence (some people said that the way it ran on the first day seemed like it had run for years), the subsidized rates (I hope they remain in the reach of the common man) are some of the most amazing features of this intiative.

I hope the other countries would consider try to emulate this model for the bright future of our planet. Hats off to Dubai for creating something which would surely imprint its name in history.